System of Secrets
by Al's Waiter
Summary: ReBoot: Project Metaverse Fic - Humans in the future must enter cyberspace to survive and some want to be left alone, but what happens when those who want to remain hidden are found?
1. Prologue

**System Of Secrets**   
A [ReBoot: Project Metaverse][1] Fic

written by [Al's Waiter][2]

**Prologue**

_"Hello, my name is Lara Entrix and I'm a game sprite. I'm from the small secluded system of Uphoria. Two hundred and sixty-four humans live there along with six game sprites, that's including myself, and about fifty binomes. Well, at least until just recently, but I'm getting ahead of myself - you don't know what the Net I'm talking about. Let me start a little bit before everyting went haywire, random, however you want to describe it; completely out of control._

_"As I said before, I'm from the system of Uphoria. I guess one could call it a small colony of humans, mostly humans anyways._

_"The colony started right after the humans began entering cyberspace as a last option to save the entire race from starvation, and almost complete extinction. They programed small pockets of cyberspace to contain the humans' new cities but received a shock when they came to explore them._

_"To their surprise, cyberspace was all ready inhabited, by sprites, Khatrans, Ledrites, Zeds and other beings; it was already crowded._

_"Feeling superior than the current occupants of the Net, the humans forcefully tried to take over the systems and colonies that were already occupied. Their logic was that if they had created the beings, they could rule over the sprites or Khatrans or who-ever they wanted. As you could have guessed, that didn't go over well and started an all out war between the 'Users' and everyone else, minus the viruses, who remained neutral._

_"There was a small group of humans who didn't want to get involved in the wars and racial tension. They just wanted to try and continue with their lives as normal as possible. After weeks of searching through the Net, they came across a system that had been evacuated and destroyed during the historic battle against the Super Virus that had taken over the entire Net. Daemon I think her name was...or was it a he...?_

_"Anyway, it was an ideal place for the humans to repair and settle down in. They rebuilt most of the buildings and homes, restored the city parks and play areas and began growing agriculture again. They also equiped the system with the latest Earth technology and some ancient sprite technology, including old sprite games, history, information and small ways to make the human lives a little more comfortable in their new world._

_"Soon after the reconstruction of the system was complete, the humans cut all connection with the Net and other systems and became a self-contained system, relying only on its inhabitants. They had someone from every occupation to do their part in the small city. But, not only did they cut all connection to the Net but they erased their location so they would be left alone to continue living as if they had never left earth's surface and would not be attacked by outside parties. The only known co-ordinates of the system were given to the Guardians, who put these in their information database under 'Top Secret', and protected them by a password. Since hacking was made illigal, the informaiton was extremely safe there._

_"With the ancient sprite technology made accessable to them, some humans became 'programmers' and taught themselves the ancient languages of computers. They discovered a language that dated back to the very beginning of computers called 'binary' and it was such a simple language they learned it very quickly._

_"The historians of Uphoria read in the old read-me files of small beings called 'binomes' and that they had helped the User in the simplest tasks, such as word processing. An experiment was set up to see if the programers could create such a being again to aide them in their new life. The experiment was a success and the first binome in 300 years was created. Several more were created because of their help to the humans._

_"The programmers were so pleased with themselves for creating life from old codes that they wanted to try again, but creating a more complex being: an artificial intellegence game sprite. It took several tries and several years but, finally, a game sprite, which they named Genesis (meaning 'beginning') was created._

_"Genesis wasn't the best game sprite for their purposes, which was to be an opponent in their games to battle against the 'User' if no other 'User' would want to play. With the template of Genesis, the programmers created me, Lara Entrix along with four others: Duke Racer, Quake Conquor, and Myst and Riven PC. The game sprites' job was to be at the game arena all day to compete against a single User that wanted a challenge._

_"All of our names came from late 20th century computer games played by Users for entertainment purposes._

_"Duke Racers' strength was speed. His mind can adjust quickly when moving at high speeds. He has the quickest reflexes than the rest of us. His favourite games include 'Need for Speed', 'Formula One', and Viper Racing. Duke's first name came from the game entitled 'Duke Nukem' and his last name is what he likes doing best: racing._

_"Quake Conquor's strength was agility and shooting. He was a great shot and a difficult opponent in games like 'Doom', 'Quake', 'Half-Life', and 'Honour Guard'. How Quake got his first name is already quite obvious, but he received his last name from a war and stragity simulation game titled, 'Command and Conquor'._

_"Myst's and Riven PC's strengths are thinking and mind puzzels. They both got their names from two games which had the User travel to different worlds and solve mysterious puzzels and collect items to win the game. Myst and Riven were created at the same time and made to look very similar: programed to be brother and sister, they're refered to as 'the twins'._

_"Lastly, myself. I have good reflexes, excellent agility, quick thinking and I'm good with a gun. I was created to play adventure games that involve danger, problem solving, and nice aiming skills . My name, Lara Entrix, comes from two different sources. My first name is from an old computer character named Lara Croft; an adventurer like myself. My last name, Entrix, is after an ancient hero of the Net, Enzo Matrix; maybe you've heard of him. He, along with several others, helped defeated the super virus, Daemon and saved the Net._

_"Outside of the the tiny colony, they system became a legend told in school readers as a fiction study. It turned into a place for all who heard of it, an ideal to live in; which it was._

_"The game sprites didn't have much freedom to do what we wanted in Uphoria. We were to do as we were told by the humans, which was alright with us; we were never treated badly. We had plenty to eat, a place to stay and many good friends. The humans gave us days off occasionally and given gifts and special events just for us as a thank you for being there to play against them. It was a great life in Uphoria, each doing our jobs and interacting with one another. Then, one day, all of that changed..."_

   [1]: http://www.projectmetaverse.org
   [2]: mailto:alswaiter@home.com



	2. Eureka!

**System Of Secrets**   
A [ReBoot: Project Metaverse][1] fic****

**Part One: Eureka!**

"I'm telling you, Lee, the system exsists! It just has to be found, that's all."

The one named "Lee" was a young seventeen year old human girl who's name was actually Leahan Sheldren but she insisted that everyone call her Lee. She had blond hair cut just above her shoulders and it swayed gently as she shook her head at her companion. The sprite sitting across from her was waving his arms around enthusiastically. His short green hair was cut around his deep magenta tinted face and waved gently as he moved. His name was Kevin Mullen and he was eightteen years old. His favourite hobby was reading legends and unsolved mysteries in both human and sprite history.

The two young cadets sat in the cafeteria of the Guardian Academy. Both were first year and excited about beging excepted into the training facility. They hadn't known each other long but already thay had a bond that was quickly growing into a strong friendship. They would study together, eat together and share new and crazy ideas. This was one of them.

"Kevin, you're crazy! If you think that you can find a legendary system with an old log file, your laptop and a large cup of energy, you're out of your little sprite mind!"

"Lee, listen. The Guardians have a record of it stored in the information database. If I hack into the..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out! Hack? You want to hack into a database for a piece of fiction? And not just that, but hack into the _Guardian_ database? Kevin, that's _illegal_! What if you get caught?"

"Keep your voice down!" He hissed. "It's just this one time and it's for a good cause."

"Really?" Lee didn't sound convinced. "Has it occured to you that they might not want to be found, Kev? I mean, they cut off their system themselves or so the story goes."

Kevin ignored her last comment. "I'm telling you the system is real and I'm going to find it."

Lee nodded wearily as she picked up her tray and stood up. "Okay Kev, you go find that system. But if you're caught hacking by the Guardians, don't come crying to me or say that I'm part of it; 'cause I'm not." As she walked away with her tray, she shouted over her shoulder. "I'll see you in systems-analysis class at 1500h."

* * *

Kevin sat over his laptop as he took another sip of expresso. He had already half hacked his way into the Guardian's database with no problem. The security was tight, but there were always paths around every security precaution; it just had to be found. He put down the mug and leaned back into his chair. He wasn't an expert in hacking, because there was always the risk that he'd get caught and spend most of his young life in jail, but he wasn't stupid. Kevin always covered up his tracks so he wouldn't be traced and he knew most of the tricks of the trade; he just had to do them right.

He moved toward the small screen again and began typing. In moments, the title at the top of the page read, "Guardian System Records: TOP SECRET" and Kevin smiled. This was almost too easy. Maybe he should hack into the database more often and perfect the trade.

Kevin scrolled down, looking at the file names. He didn't know what exactly to look for: co-orinates, the system name or what, but he continued to look. He'd prove to Lee that the system exsisted.

Suddenly, a file name caught his eye; "unknown system" it read. Kevin clicked on the file name and only had to wait two seconds before a red warning flashed on his screen.

"Enter password: All unauthorized access to this database will set off an alert to the Guardians."

Kevin entered the password that he had spend six hours of hacking to accuire and pressed 'Enter'.

"Password accepted."

_It better be._ Kevin breathed as the file opened.

The only information about this "unknown system" that appreared on the screen were a set of three numbers. _Co-ordinates?_ Kevin desided to do a system search. He exited the Guardian database, making sure that he couldn't be tracked down and entered the Academies student information program. He started up the system search program and typed in the set of three and pressed return; hoping the information, pictures and the system name, Uphoria would appear. Nothing of the sort. All that popped up on his screen was another request for a password. Kevin typed the Guardian password and pressed 'Enter'.

"Access denied." _What?_ Kevin thought. _No. I must have typed it wrong._ He typed it carefully again; making sure the letters were in the right order.

"Access denied."

_Another password? Crash!_ Kevin didn't have one.

Kevin typed down the three numbers, saved the file and closed his laptop. He had spent eight hours hacking, and no final product to show for it. He was closer to finding the system than he had before but not close enough. Kevin sighed deeply. He was very disappointed.

Kevin jumped when a knock sounded on his door. The first thing that came to Kevin's mind was, _Security?_ Could he have been found out? Had security traced his line and come to arrest him?

Kevin didn't move. Didn't speak. Maybe they would just go if they thought he wasn't there.

Another knock sounded; this time accompanied by a voice. "Kevin, are you in there?" The sprite sighed in relief. It was only Lee.

"Yeah, I'm here." he called, recovering from his fright. The door opened and in walked the girl carrying a tray of something.

"I thought you might be hungery, so I brought you some food. And no matter who says it, nobody, Sprite, Human or Khatrans, can survive completely on coffee. You need substaninse."

Kevin smiled and took the ham and cheeze sandwich off the tray. "Thanks, I really needed it."

Lee held the tray tightly against her stomach. "Sooo, how's the 'wink wink' 'nudge nudge' going? Find anything?"

Kevin smiled as he chewed the sandwich, but said nothing.

Lee got the jest of it. "You did?" She sat down on a bed nearby. "You're joking. You've got to be."

Kevin shook his head as he swallowed. "I'm not joking. I found something. I'm not sure exactly what it is because I need a password for it, but I'm pretty sure it's what I was looking for."

Lee shook her head. "I can't believe you. You're actually going through with it."

"What? Would you think that I should be a quitter? Go half way and then just give up?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying you whouldn't have started in the first place and left that system alone."

Kevin frowned. "I told you, Lee. I'm going to find that system to prove to everyone it exsists."

Lee sighed. She didn't understand why he was so determined to do this. Who really cared? It wasn't as if finding the system would make everybody's life better. What was one system compared to the hundreds out there? She silently stood up and left the room without saying a word.

As the door closed behind his friend his friend, Kevin took another bite of his sandwich. Suddenly, it didn't taste very good. He placed it on the table beside his laptop, walked to his bed and lay down.

_I'll show them._ He thought. _All I need to do is find that password. It's gotta be in the database somewhere... somewhere..._ and Kevin drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Lee growled in frustration as she threw down her digital pencil that rolled onto the floor.

"I hate calculus!" she hissed. "I hate math in general!"

The librarian looked up from the work she had been doing and gave Lee the _look_.

Lee mouthed the words "Sorry" as she bent down to get her pencil. When she sat back up, Kevin was pulling up a chair across the table from her. He flopped down into the chair with a quiet "Hey..."

"Kevin, what have you been doing? You look like death warmed over!"

Kevin's eyes drooped and were slightly bloodshot. His hair was matted and his face was paler than usual. He was dead tired.

Kevin folded his arms, creating a makeshift pillow and layed his head down.

"I've been working..." he slurred.

"Working?!" Lee exclaimed with her voice low. "Don't tell me that you've been working on your _personal_ project all night..."

Kevin nodded faintly. "I've been trying to figure out the password; tried everything I could think of. Nothing works."

Lee sighed deeply. "Maybe you should just give it up. It's ruining you."

"No!" Kevin raised his head. "I'm not a quitter."

"Ok, fine." Lee raised her hands in submission. "Keep your personal project, but give it a break. You're killing yourself to find it. It's been in the same place for several hundred years and it's not going anywhere...as far as I know."

Kevin let out an audiable breath. "You're right. I'll lay off it for a while until I can get organized again."

Lee finally smiled. "Then you can start by getting some sleep; History class has been canceled. Proffessor Riggins had an urgent arend to run for Prime Jennings. You've got two hours."

Kevin let out a small laugh. "Oh, that sounds good. I think I'll do that." he said as he stood up and grogally walked to his room.

* * *

Kevin sat in the library reading "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. Kevin couldn't help but laugh at the authors views of the future; Wells was completely off. It was more of a comiedy novel than an ancient science fiction, but it was a classic and the writing was great.

As Kevin looked up from his reading pad, he noticed Lee approaching and she was carrying a ton of read me files.

Kevin grinned. "What's with the personal library you have there?"

Lee dropped the files onto a table and sat down exhausted. "You know that report that we have to do in History class?"

Kevin nodded.

"Well," Lee bit her lip. "I haven't started it yet."

Kevin shot Lee a look of surprise. "What? What were you thinking? We've had this assigned for a month! What have you been doing?"

Lee smiled sheepishly. "Ok...just call me the 'Queen of Procrastination'." She sighed. "Could you help me?"

Kevin flomped back into his chair. "What's your topic?" he asked, his voice lacking enthuiasm.

Lee picked up her planner where all her assignments, examinations and activities were logged. "The lost city of Atlantis." she read and put it down. "I asked you because you're the expert on this type of thing and with the new evidence found during the twenty-first century that proved that it exsisted, I was sure you'd know everything there is to know."

"Hand me your assignment sheet." Lee did so. "Ok, 'You will be assigned a historical mystery that has never been completely solved. Research this topic and prepare an oral presentation. You will be marked on blah blah...blah..." Kevin let his voice trail off. A new look of realization came over his face. "That it!"

"What's it?" Lee was confused.

Kevin lowered his voice to a whisper. "I've gotta go..."

"Whoa! Aren't you going to help me with this? Where are you going?"

"I'll tell you later. Just read those files on Atlantis and I'll be back shortly." he said as he stood and ran out of the library.

Lee's gaze followed her friend as he exited. She shook her head and picked up the top file. "Even though he's my best friend, I don't think I'll ever completely understand him."

* * *

Kevin sat egerly infront of the small, glowing screen of his laptop as he waited impatiently for the system search program to start up.

"Come on...come _on_!..." he encouraged the computer quietly. When the loading was complete, the usual information window popped up, asking for a system name, net address or co-ordinates. By now, Kevin had the memorized the three numbers and he feverishly typed them in. A drop of cold sweat rolled down his temple and along his jaw bone as he waited fot the request for the password. His fingers bent down and typed 'atlantis' into the text box and his hand was shaking in anticipation as he pressed 'Enter'. The few seconds for the reply to the password seemed like an eternity, but finally, the answer came:

'Password accepted'

Kevin stopped. Was he seeing right? Were his eye's playing tricks on him? He had seen 'Password denied' so many times that he had taken it for granted. He checked again; read it for the second time.

'Password accepted'

Kevin jumped up, knocking over his chair in the process, but he didn't care. He had found the system!

He enjoyed his success for only a minute. _What if it's not the right system?_ he found himself thinking. _What if it's the wrong one?_ He picked up the chair and sat back down. He had to be sure. He clicked 'OK' and what Kevin saw next made all his hard work feel worth the effort.

* * *

Guardian Geoff Dunning, and Guardian Shashi Elrick, were on system watch as Kevin re-opened the port to the hidden system. It had been a slow day with nothing out of the ordinary, and both of the sprites wanted a little excitement.

"Another day, another few hours of my life I'll never get back." Geoff complained to his bored partner. His dark green face was cloulded over with his frustration about his job and his bright green eyes rolled as he spoke. His hair was a black chrome and tied away from his face by a blue elastic that matched his Guardian uniform.

"Aw, just shut it, Geoff. You know that I feel the same as you do about this job, but, it has to be done; there's no use in crabbing about it." Shashi hissed. Her lavender face frowned in displeasure at her conpainion as she crossed her arms. "Prime Jennings will have our heads if we're not found at our post, and you know it." her black eyes flashed. Her white hair was held up with two sticks and seemed to glow in the dimmly lit room.

"Yeah," Geoff sighed. "I just wish that something would happen though."

As if an answer to Geoff's request, flashing lights accompanied by a loud shill siren filled the room. Shashi and Geoff sat, fully alert in their chairs as they scanned the screens for the problem.

"What is it? Do you see it?" Shashi asked as she searched hundreds of television monitors.

Geoff's eye's stopped on the monitor above his head. "I think I've found it..." his voice concluded as he typed the monitor number and the image appeared on every screen. "You check what the situation is and I'll report it." he said as he picked up the receiver.

Shashi typed quickly on the computer and rewound the tape. On the screen was five dots representing system locations. _Nothing new about that..._ she thought. _I've been looking at those all day..._ Suddenly, a white blank space on the screen was filled with a sixth red dot. "What in the NET?!?" she exclaimed.

Geoff rolled his chair over to Shashi. "What?"

"That system just appeared out of nowhere!" The white haired sprite said pointing at the monitor infront of her.

"Are you sure?" Geoff asked as he pressed the rewind button.

"Positive! I counted five and all of a sudden...POOF! There were six!"

"Let me see..." The male sprite pressed play.

"You think that I'm random? I know what I saw!"

"Yeah...yeah...Keep you processor in check..." Geoff was concentrating on the image infront of him.

As Geoff watch the servilence tape, Shashi gave a running comentary. "See? Five dots...like I told you ..and..." when the sixth dot appeared, Shashi raised her hand slightly as an inaudable 'Told you so.'

"A system that pops out of nowhere? Could this be a roaming system?" Geoff thought out loud.

"If you think that," Shashi said as she grabbed the receiver out of his hand, "you're even crazier than you think I am." She dialed 3-1-1 and Michael Houston, head of Net secruity, picked up on the other end. Shashi's voice was a matter-of-fact. "Houston, we have a problem..."

   [1]: http://www.projectmetaverse.org



	3. Uphoria

**System Of Secrets**   
A [ReBoot: Project Metaverse][1] Fic 

**Part Two: Uphoria**

"Welcome to the Monty Carlo Grand Prix, ladies and gentlemen!" the loud speaker greeted the multitude of spectators that had crowded into the giant stadium. "It's a beautiful day for racing, and I'm sure that this race will be one to remember for years to come. If you are in need of refreshments, they are being served outside the coliseum.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the drivers today are the best in the world! In the blue car, we have Bobby Malone!" The young driver waved an arm outside of the car window to the cheering crowd.

"In the red car, Mike Collins!" The second driver smiled, extremely please with himself that he made it to the finals. The eleven other drivers were named off one by one. An unnamed male figure in the white car behind the all thirteen cars remained stone faced as he stared straight ahead of him and down the track. The female driver in the black car beside him, checked her gages, gas and oil lights.

"Drivers! start your engines!" the loudspeaker boomed. The engines of all fifteen cars roared to life and all thirty hands were placed firmly onto the steering wheel. The pair of starter lights glowed like two red eyes, staring at the fifteen racers; waiting.

Suddenly over the speakers "On your mark! Get set..." The lights began to change from red to yellow. The drivers revved their engines, eager to begin the race. Finally, the last light turned green. "GO!" The race started with sixty tires squealing and exhaust exploding out of the tail pipes.

Faster and faster the cars made their way down the track and to the first turn. The two unidentified cars were slowly making their ways up the ranks. The two lead cars driven by Bobby and Mike were having no problem staying ahead; so far.

The nameless male driver worked his way through the maze of cars; getting faster with every passing moment.

"He's coming up on your tail, Bobby!" Mike's voice crackled in Bobby's head-set. The young driver looked in his review mirror. Sure enough, the dark figure was creeping closer.

"I see 'im, Mike. Thanks." Bobby carefully shifted gears and began gaining speed. 'Mr. X' changed gears, mirroring Bobby's actions, and stayed right behind the lead car. The group of cars whipped around the third corner and the faster cars were easily separated from the slower ones. 'Madam X' slowly crept into the leading group of cars.

Suddenly, the stands and spectators disappeared, leaving a grid wall, then re-appearing again; cheering and waving. The four head drivers all did a double take but continued on with the race. Further down the track, serveral members of the pit crew disappeared then flickered back into existence. 'Madam X' shook her head, thinking she was seeing things. Was she?

As the cars came around the final turn of the first lap, the racing track disappeared right from underneath the group of cars, sending the vehicles and their drivers spinning out of control. After the cars came to a full stop, all fifteen cars, eleven drivers and the surrounding stadium vanished, leaving a gridded room and four figures sprawled on the floor.

Madam and Mr. X painfully stood up and walked to the other two lying a short distance off. "Bobby! Mike! Are you both alright?" Madam X asked.

Bobby took off his racing helmet and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok, Lara. The padding of the suit took most of the beating. I'll have some bruises though..." he said rubbing his tender back side.

Mike took off his helmet. "What happened, Lara? Why did the game do that?"

Lara Entrix shook her head. "I don't know, Mikey." She turned to a window that was incased within one of the four walls of the room. Behind it stood a young female sprite with short spikey hair. "Genesis, what in the system happened?" Lara called.

Genesis checked her instruments and reviewed the data from the game. "The data shows that the game lost quite a lot of energy near the end. That is why it acted that way."

"But what caused the power drain?" Lara asked as she yanked her helmet, letting her long braid fall down her back and stop at the tip of her boots. "Bobby, Mike, Duke and I could have been deleted."

"I know Lara, I am checking it."

"Come on guys." Duke said taking off his helmet, "Let's just check to see if you really didn't hurt yourselves and just don't know it yet." The two ten year old boys nodded and followed the tall male sprite out of the holo-game deck.

Lara clicked her icon, changing her racing suit to her regular white half-sleeved shirt, blue shorts with a pink stripe and high black boots that came almost up to her knee. All her aches that she had received during her tumble vanished as she transferred from her gaming mode to default mode. Her body just healed itself; that was the one advantage of being a game sprite that Lara loved.

Lara opened a well concealed door in the wall that held the window and into a poorly lit stairwell. At the top of the stairs was another door, which Lara opened and walked into the holo-game control room, to join her Genesis. "What happened Gen?"

Genesis looked up from the flashing control panel. "I have been monitoring the power input levels. Each time a portion of the game disappeared, there was a significant drop."

"A drop in power?" Lara was confused. "But we've never had a power shortage."

"Not true." Genesis said calmly. "We had a short when the founders cut the connection to the Net at the very beginning of Uphoria."

"Okay...that's the only time...but that was decades ago. We've never had any problems since then. Why would one happen?" Lara sat down in a chair and sighed.

"Relax, my young friend." Genesis spoke with quiet authority. "We have never had problems, true, but there is always a first time."

Genesis was viewed as the elder of the group of sprites because she was the oldest of the six. Uphoria sprites never aged because of their special programming. Her deep purple skin shone youthfully, as her dark green eyes sparkled from underneath her silvery white spiked hair. Her appearance mirrored the 'punk' look from the late 1980's which was her programmer's favourite time in history. Her sleeveless shirt was a blinding flourescent neon yellow and her pants were a painful colour of bright green. Her belt was a fusha pink and her knee-high boots were white with multi-colored dots covering them. She wore three silver bracelets on each wrist and long silver chain earings that touched the collar of her shirt.

Lara shook her head. "How do you do it, Gen? How can you keep your cool?"

"I simply keep my head." Genesis smiled calmly. "That's how I keep my cool."

Lara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was probably just a small glitch and over with by now. There was no need to worry over nothing. Lara placed her hands on her knees as she stood up. "Well, I'm going to get some energy. Care to join me?"

The respected sprite shook her head. "I am going to wait until the diagnostic has finished, but save me one though."

"Can do." Lara waved at her friend and left the lofted room. 

* * *

"It was completely weird! The game just halted in the middle of the first lap."

When Lara drew closer to the small group of game sprites sitting in a round booth in the game arena's restaurant, she heard Duke telling the others of what happened in the holo-game deck. As Lara sat down beside Myst PC, she smiled a greeting and the others made room for her.

"Really?" Riven took a sip of his energy shake. "That is weird."

"Out in the lobby, the lights dimmed several times. They almost seemed to be turned off at one point." Myst said softly as she pushed her bright orange hair away from her eyes.

"What were you doing in the lobby?" Quake asked.

"I was trying to rest after a six hour game marathon. My feet were killing me."

"Then why didn't you change into default mode?" Lara asked, joining the conversation.

"Because I was too tired." Myst grinned and her response cause everyone to smile.

"That's my sister," Riven jeered. "Always too lazy to do what's practical."

"I wasn't too lazy." Myst said as she punched her twin. "I was just tired, that's all."

Lara turned to Duke who was sitting across from her. "How are Mikey and Bobby? Were they hurt?"

Duke gently shook his head."Bobby was right, they'll probably have a few bruises but they'll be fine." Lara gave a sigh of relief as she leaned back in the padded bench and looked at her friends.

Duke Racer's long, faint, lime green hair was tied tightly back in a ponytail and stopped just below his neck. His personalised red and white sports jacket was unzipped, revealing a white tank top underneath. His wine coloured pants was a contrast to his orange socks, while his white track shoes squeaked on the floor.

Quake Conquer's yellow hair was cut military style and stay close to his head, while his bright blue eyes shone though a turquoise face and his silver id tags jingled with every move he made. His white tank top looked brand new and went well with his camouflaged pants. His black boots were very much like Lara's because they went up to the shin, stopped before the knee and laced all the way up.

Myst and Riven PC, who were still punching and poking each other sat beside one another. The Twins' bright orange hair was often hiding their purple eyes and hanging around their navy faces. Their clothes even matched from their purple t-shirts and green pants to their dark green shoes and bright yellow double crossed belt and socks.

Lara felt like she was sitting on something and when she stood up, she realized she was sitting on her long blue braid. She smiled and moved it to her lap. She liked having long hair, but it got in the way a lot of the time. As Lara took another drink of energy, Genesis quickly walked up to the booth.

"Sprites, I have something to tell you." She didn't get to finish. A double-sided window popped up in the middle of the table, startling Duke and causing him to spill his drink. Mayor Cassidy's face filled the window.

"Sprites, come to the Principle Office immediately. It's important!"

"What?" Quake asked. "And leave the game stadium?"

"All games for today are cancelled as of now." the human informed them. "Get here now! Cassidy out."

The vid-window disappeared with a 'ping' and left the sprites staring at each other. "Games are cancelled?" Riven spoke what was on everyone's mind. "And this not even a holiday!"

Genesis took control of the situation; as usual. "You heard him , sprites; let us go to the Principle Office." Quickly the six game sprites were walking out of the game stadium. The brightness of the outside caused them to blink several times. They threw down their zip-boards, jumped on and off they flew to the centre of the system.

"Hey Lara!" Duke called to the young sprite with the long braid trailing behind her. "Race ya!"

"You're on!" she called back and took off.

"Hey! CHEAT!" Duke yelled after her as he tried to catch up and hopefully pass her. The four remaining sprites just shoot their heads at their companions and continued on. 

* * *

"I win!" Lara smiled victoriously as she jumped off her board and turned to gloat to Duke.

"Only because you cheated." Duke frowned as he jumped off his board and reduced it to fit on his belt.

"Oh yeah?" Lara put her hands on her hips. "This coming from the sprite who thinks a fair race is you in a Mach 5 jet and me walking on my two feet."

"Well..." Duke raised his hands. "...yeah!"

Genesis' voice floated over to the pair. "Alright you too, that's enough. Just get in side."

"Yes, Gen." Both sprites said meekly as they headed for the large doorway. Mayor Cassidy met them at the door but didn't say anything. He began to lead them toward an inner room that hadn't seen many visitors since the origin of the system.

The silence was broken by Genesis. "Mayor Cassidy, did you discover what I have about the power fluctuations?"

Cassidy simply nodded. "Probably."

"What did you find out Gen?" Lara inquired.

"Something that, if I am correct, will change the system and probably our lives as well."

"That doesn't sound good." Myst whispered to her brother. Riven agreed.

"I don't like the sound of that either."

The seven figures entered a small room that had computer panels built into three of the four walls. Several young human security enforcers sat at the computer, monitoring something on the screens.

"I'll get straight to the point." Cassidy spoke with purpose. "We have checked and double checked out findings and we're sure of this fact; we are no longer disconnected from the Net."

"You mean...we can be found now by outsiders?" Duke asked.

Cassidy nodded slowly. "It's true and our scanners show that we've been located."

Glances were exchanged around the room. Everyone was thinking the same thing. _Were they located by people with peaceful or evil intentions?_

"What are we going to do?" Myst was worried. "The system isn't a war-loving socitety. If we're attacked, there's no way we can defend ourselves."

"But we _do_ have a small line of defense" Cassidy looked at the six game sprites.

"We have a first line of defense?" this was news to the five game sprites, but not to Genesis.

"That we do." she agreed with the mayor. "The five of you." she said as she turned to her fellow sprites.

"Us?" Lara didn't quite understand the statement.

"Yes, you." Genesis said calmly. "What do you think you do all day?"

Duke was beginning to understand. "We play games."

"Right. Which is like..." Genesis prompted.

"Training." Quake answered.

"Boy for game sprites, they're pretty slow on uptake." Cassidy muttered under his breath to his co-worker.

Genesis overheard but chose to continue talking to her charges. "Therefore, are you ready to defend the system?"

"No," Riven said plainly. "But we really don't have a choice."

"You're right, you don't." Cassidy growled. "We humans created you. You have to obey us and do what we tell you. Meaning...get your 'ascii's' out there and do what you can!" Before Duke, Myst, Quake, Lara or Riven knew it, they were out of the principle office, on their zip-boards and heading to the portal gate at the edge of the system. After they dismounted their boards, they stared at the round gate than may open from who know where.

The portal gate was a giant black iron ring that was held up with several thin iron rods. Strange symbols were etched into the black metal for decoration or were they actually words; the designers who had created it long ago had never said what they were and had died, taking that information with them. The gate actually resembled a fictional stargate from a twentieth century movie and later, a television show, but none of the sprites knew that; they had never seen the movie nor knew what a television was. All they knew was that this gate was never meant to be used again, even though it was made to last; that was going to change today.

"So," Myst shuffled her feet. "What do we do now?"

"I say we suit up." Quake suggested. "That way, we can look intimidating to whoever or what ever comes through the portal."

"Oh yes," Riven said sarcastically "and if a thousand invaders enter Uphoria, we five can look very imitating. Good plan Quake."

"Well," Quake defended "as least we'll have weapons to protect ourselves and the system for the two whole minutes we'll be processing..."

"Alright guys, knock it off." Lara stepped between the two fighting sprites. "Quake is right; we should suit up. It's the only practical solution we have."

"Hey sprites." came a small voice behind the group. "What's going on? Why aren't you are the arena?" All five sprites spun around to face the voice. The voice that had been thrown the questions out came from a very small being. That being was a binome. The binome stood blinking it's one eye at them, waiting for an reply.

"Never mind us," Duke frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here." The binome said simply. "Why else would I be here?" he snapped.

"Is Cassidy completely random or is it just me?" Lara threw her hands up in frustration. "He didn't even evacuate this part of town! This is completely ludicrous!"

"Evacuate?" the binome was taken aback. "Why evacuate?"

"You know the power fluctuations earlier this afternoon?" Quake began but Myst and Riven both stopped them.

"We can't say exactly," Myst said covering Quake's mouth and receiving a glare for it. "But we need to evacuate this part of the system."

"In the risk of sounding redundant," the binome put his hands on his waist where his hips would be located if he had hips "but 'why evacuate?'"

Just as Riven was about to attempt an answer for the snooty binome, the portal gate activated behind him. The binome's eye widened in surprise, shock and all 'round curiosity. All five sprites turned one hundred and eighty degrees to stare in horror at the shimmering, silver portal.

"Oh no..." Lara's voice was hushed, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "They're here...."

   [1]: http://www.projectmetaverse.org



	4. Decisions

**Chapter 3: Decisions**

Michael Houston paced in front of the unstable tear. What was taking so long to get the word to go? It was only one word; "Go", and it's not that hard of a word to say at that. 

He stopped pacing and looked down at his keytool. Vault sat motionless on Houston's arm; shining in the dim light. A smile spread across Houston's face as he remembered how he had received it at the Academy. 

Michael's mind snapped back to reality and the pleasant smile disappeared as quickly as it had come. 

Suddenly, a vidwindow pooped in front of the Head of Net Security. Prime Jenning's face filled the double sided screen. "We've checked the system and we are unable to find any information on it. Find out what's going on and report back as soon as you can. Jenning's out." The vidwindow then shrunk out of existence. 

Houston turned. "That's it, Guardians! Move out!" 

The co-ordinates of their designation had already been entered into the computer, and on Houston's word, the portal was activated. The guardian security officers paired off and ran into the silver sphere. 

Houston watched the others rush into the shimmering unknown and after every Guardian had disappeared into the portal, Michael followed his charges. The portal felt soft and smooth on his face and hands, like walking into water without the wetness. 

As he walked into the designated system, he quickly looked around to get his bearings. Tall concrete buildings that were near the centre of the system towered in the distance and surrounding the twenty-one Guardians appeared to be large warehouses. Birds sang loudly and carefree a ways off and the sky was a rich blue. 

Directly in front of the alert Guardians were five sprites and a small cubed creature; all staring back at them in shock and horror. 

_They must be the ones_... Houston concluded. "Freeze!" he then shouted. 

But instead of stopping where they stood, the five lone sprites took fighting stances. "Suit up!" shouted a blue haired female sprite with a long braid that almost reached the ground. All the sprites clicked their triangular icons and changed their appearances. 

The red female sprite with the long blue braid was now wearing a skin tight black leather body suit. Her hair had changed to a redish brown, her skin changed into the appearance of a human and a double holster that was behind her back each containing a .45 calibre gun which she pulled out and aimed at the Guardians. 

The light blue sprite with lime green hair that was tied back away from his face, now appeared to be a tanned, brunette haired male in a white T-shirt, black vest, black tight pants, and white track shoes. Over his eye were blue tinted targeting glasses that were networked to the gun that he took out of the holster on his right hip. In his left hand he held a navy surfboard which he threw down and jumped on. He took raised the gun to the Guardian group. 

The two dark navy skinned sprites with the fiery orange hair changed into two blonde haired humans wearing matching white T-shirts. The female had a animal skin skirt where the male had animal skin pants and both had matching animal skin boots. The female had a long wooden bow staff and the male had two cases of some flat brass looking darts. 

The last sprite grew larger with his transformation. He wore a black bandana to covered his blonde hair, a grey tank top and camouflaged pants with knee high combat boots. Around his waist was a belt that held twenty grenades, over each shoulder were two strings of ammo for his two large plasma rifles a large bush knife on his thigh and on his back was a knapsack of more weapons if he needed them. 

Their transformations took no more than several seconds but that was all that Houston needed. At his word, a jumbled mess of keytool names were shouted, followed by a chorus of orders for restraints were called. The five sprites were completely overwhelmed with the shower of containment fields, stasis locks and electronic bonds that when the bombardment had ceased, the five figures were lying motionless on the ground. 

Houston carefully walked up to the quintet of sprites to read them their rights. As he approached, he heard one of them say to the other, "Told ya so Quake. 'Real intimidating'!" 

"Oh, logg off, Riven!" the other snapped back. "Just logg off!" 

Houston couldn't help buy smirk at the sprites anger towards each other. "You are under arrest in the name of the Guardians." he announced to the group. "You have the right to remain silent," he began. "Anything you say or do will and can be used against you in a court of law..." 

"Wait!" the brunette sprite called out. "Why are we under arrest?" 

"Where should I begin?" Houston asked. "Hacking into the Super Computer, tampering with a system location, threatening a Guardian, resisting arrest-" 

"But we haven't done any of those things." the surfer sprite protested as he struggled to sit up. "We don't know what you're talking about." 

"Sure. Whatever buddy. You're still coming with me." 

"But we haven't done anything." the sprite insisted. "We live in this system." 

Houston looked up at the tall buildings in the distance. "By the way, what system is this?" he asked. "There is no information on it in the database." 

"Uphoria." he stated. "This is the system of Uphoria." 

Houston glared at the surfer. "Do you expect me to believe that?" he shot back. "What is the name of the system?!" 

"I've already told you." the sprite said finally sitting up and answering calmly. "I don't think I need to tell you again." 

"He's telling the truth, sir." the brunette female sprite spoke with the same tone as her surfer companion. "You have entered the system of Uphoria." 

Houston quickly looked at the system again. The buildings were fairly old and not the modern designs that he was used to. The cars flying in the distance between the giant structures were models he hadn't seen in years. Some were antiques. The Principal Office was in the centre of the city was an enormous cylindrical structure filled with large square windows that reflected the blue of the sky. Each detail that Houston's eyes absorbed seemed to come straight out of his grade six english reader. 

"Uphoria?" Houston whispered under his breath. _Could it be possible?_ While Houston stood pondering the idea, one of the female Guardians behind him spoke up. 

"What's that behind that building there?" she asked, pointing towards a corner of a near-by wall. Peeking from behind it was a small trembling figure, but as soon as it realized it was being watched, it vanished out of sight. The female Guardians stepped forward and called the being tenderly. "Come. You can come out now. It's alright." 

But the creature, whatever it was, didn't come back. It stayed hidden and the sound of tiny running footsteps was heard in the near silence. The female Guardian turned and faced Houston. "Should we follow it?" 

Houston shook his head. "No. We must see if everyone is all right in this system before reporting back. Be ready for anything." he finished with a warning. Everyone nodded and proceeded with caution toward the Principal Office in the centre of the city. 

* * *

A small group of humans were waiting outside of the Principal Office when the guardians arrived. They did not look happy. Houston addressed the crowd. 

"We've captured the terrorists sprites in your system and they will be prosecuted as soon as we can get back to the Super Computer. You're save now." 

The head of the group spoke up. "We are not safe. Our system has been discovered, so we're vulnerable for an attack, and those sprites aren't terrorists; they are employed here in the system. Release them at once." 

Houston froze and felt his face heat up with embarrassment. He quietly turned to his team and ordered the five sprites to be released. The freed prisoners struggled to stand up from being tied up for so long. 

"Thank you." the leader said, deeply. "I am Mayor Brad Cassidy. Welcome to the system fo Uphoria. " 

"Uphoria?" Houston broke in. "You mean this is Uphoria?" 

"Yes, I think we should talk about this." 

"I agree." the head of net security replied. "I have to report back to Prime Jennings, then we can discuss what ever you have in mind." 

They both nodded at each other and walked into the dark Principal office. 

* * *

"You can't do this!" Brad Cassidy shouted at the figure sitting across from him. "You have no right to do this!" 

Michael Houston sat calmly with his arms crossed, looking across Cassidy's work desk in City Hall. "I don't think you understand that _you_ can't do this." He said calmly. "We have laws across the Net and you must abide by them." 

"But we don't want to be part of the outer Net." Cassidy tried to explain. "This wasn't our choice of action. As soon as possible, we would like to be inaccessible again." 

Houston shook his head. "Whether you want to be inaccessible, that's your choice, but you have to realize that the spites that you have _employed_ in your system have a choice too-" 

"Choice?" Cassidy interrupted curtly. "They don't have a choice! They have been created and programmed to be game spri-" 

"Whether for games or not, they are sprites as you said yourself, Mayor Cassidy." Houston said raising his voice in volume. "And everyone in the Net has rights including 'Game Sprites' And-". 

"And they are staying here!" the mayor bellowed. 

"And," Houston continued as if the mayor hadn't said anything but matching Cassidy's volume, "if you refuse to give them a choice, I will be forced to charge you with illegal employment of a sprite, holding him against his will and treatment to another living being." Houston sat back in the leather armchair. "Times that by six, don't forget." he finished several volumes softer than he had started. "You would also have to be arrested and court hearings about this case will be held." he formed a fake smile. "I'm sure you don't want to get involved up to your nostrils in that legal stuff, now do you?" 

Cassidy let out a loud grunt, sat back and exhaled. "No," he frowned deeply. "No I don't." 

* * *

"You can't be serious!" Quake just stared at his fellow sprites. "Please tell me I've been hit in the head too many times and that I'm hearing things." 

Duke looked sadly at his friend. "You're not hearing things, Butch." He frowned. "We're leaving." 

"But... you can't leave!" Quake pleaded. "Uphoria is our home." 

Myst quietly walked up, and gave Quake a hug. "We know it is and it always will be, but we never said that we wouldn't come back." 

"Right," Riven added. "We just want to see the Net. Up until now, we've only seen Uphoria and most of our time has been just in the gaming arena. We want to explore, learn, and experience new places elsewhere." 

"We will return, my friend." Genesis placed a hand on Quake's shoulder. "Do not worry, you will not be forgotten. And we will come back within the year." 

"But..." Quake couldn't finish his sentence; his voice got caught in his throat. 

Myst, who still had her arms around Quake's chest, gave him a tight squeeze and let go. "I hate to think of you here alone, but adventuring is in my code and everyone else's. You have the love of action and adrenaline rushes - ours is to explore. We can't go against our function." 

Quake sadly nodded. "I understand, but..." he paused. "But does it have to be an entire year?" 

Riven smiled. "No, I guess not." He looked at his twin. "I suppose we could come back in six months, if that's alright with you, Butch." 

A small smile appeared on the gruff sprite's face. "Six months is much better than twelve. Though..." he looked down. "I wish you weren't going at all." 

Lara stepped forward and hugged the tough game sprite. "We'll all miss you, but this is something we have to do." 

"I know. Just hurry back." 

"We will old friend." Duke said, slapping Quake hard on the back. "Besides, no one is here to beat your bitmap at the games and then josh you about it. That's my job." 


	5. Epilogue

Epilogue

_"Well, that was two months ago and I miss Quake terribly, but I'm having a wonderful time. Six weeks ago, Myst and Riven went off by themselves to explore the systems surrounding Uphoria and will meet up with us when the four more months are up.___

_"I can't wait to see them, and Quake.___

_"Mayor Cassidy said that he would keep the port to Uphoria open so we could find our way back home.___

_"It's strange having all this freedom - no one telling us what to do or when to do it. It's so... I guess... frightening in a way, but not in a terrifying way. Just frightening, 'cause it's our own decisions - not someone else's -that determine the concequences or our fate. We're carving our own path in our lives.___

_"No one knows what lies ahead and that's what makes the adventure worth while."___

_~Lara Entrix, Wanderer~_


End file.
